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The Syria Files

Thursday 5 July 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing the Syria Files – more than two million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries and associated companies, dating from August 2006 to March 2012. This extraordinary data set derives from 680 Syria-related entities or domain names, including those of the Ministries of Presidential Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Information, Transport and Culture. At this time Syria is undergoing a violent internal conflict that has killed between 6,000 and 15,000 people in the last 18 months. The Syria Files shine a light on the inner workings of the Syrian government and economy, but they also reveal how the West and Western companies say one thing and do another.

Thank you for the reply. We are indeed having some problems with incoming faxes from Syria, and are looking into this. Our technicians do not know where the problem is coming from. Could you try to send the letter to our legal department, copied also to
Mr. Richard Amor, at the fax number 00352.4379.64599?

Below is EIB's reply to SPC which we will send officially as a reply to your letter, as soon as we receive it. Please let me know whether we should address it only to SPC or also to another Syrian authority.

To: SPC, Head of SPC, Dr. Taysir Raddawi
Subject: The greenfield Cement Plant Project in North-East Aleppo (private sector project) - applicability of the Framework Agreement
Dear Sirs,
We would like to thank you for your letter dated 3 September 2009 in which you inform us that the Syrian Government does not have any objection regarding the application of the Framework Agreement to the EIB loan of USD 170m for financing the above
mentioned project, with four conditions. Below please find our comments and clarifications regarding the four conditions you set out.
Regarding the first condition, we are pleased to note that you consent to the Framework Agreement applying to the EIB loan for the project, and accordingly that the government of Syria will enable EIB to enjoy the protections and priviliges set out in the
Framework Agreement. We confirm that we are not seeking any guarantee by the Syrian Government of the Borrower's obligations under the Finance Contract and the Framework Agreement does not provide for any such guarantee.
Regarding condition n. 2, please note that Article 13 of the Framework Agreement sets out the dispute settlement provisions that apply in the event of a dispute between the Government of Syria and EIB regarding the Framework Agreement. The Finance
Contract contains its own dispute settlement provisions that apply between the private sector Borrower and the EIB regarding any disputes in respect of the Finance Contract, in which the Syrian Government will obviously not be involved.
For condition n. 3, regarding Article 4, Transfer of Funds ("currencies shall be converted according to the bulletin exchange rate issued by the Central Bank of Syria"), this is acceptable to us as long as the exchange rate for the Syrian pound is
centrally managed by the Central Bank of Syria. Should this no longer be the case in the future, the prevailing market exchange rate shall apply.
Finally, with regards to condition n. 4, related to Article 14 and ratification of the Framework Agreement, please note that EIB has received a copy of Syrian law No3 of year 2000 which ratified the Framework Agreement and which was published in the
Syrian Official Gazette of year 2000. Regarding the reference in Article 14 to a legal opinion, we confirm that we have already received a satisfactory legal opinion from our legal counsel in Syria regarding the legal force of the Framework Agreement.
Accordingly we confirm that all the conditions to the Entry into Force of the Framework Agreement in Article 14 have been satisfied.
With the above clarifications, we are comfortable that the Framework Agreement applies to this important private sector project and we will proceed to signature of the Finance Contract with the private sector borrower, scheduled for the 16 September 2009.
Should you have any comments to our clarifications, please let us know before this date.
Thanking you again for your continued cooperation.
Yours sincerely,
Javier Gutierrez / Paloma Pérez de Vega

Reference is made to your letter dated 6/8/2009, and to our meeting dated 16/7/2009 in which we agreed that the State Planning Commission will send you the Syrian concrete concerns regarding the application of the provisions under the "Framework Convention
on the Implementation of Financial and Technical Cooperation under the MEDA Programme as well as other EIBs Financing Agreements in Mediterranean Countries" signed in 1998 between the Syrian Arab Republic and the EIB, to the a.m project.

Kindly be informed that the Syrian Government does not have any objection regarding the application of the Framework Agreement to the EIB loan of USD /170/ m for financing the a.m project, within the following conditions:
1. There is no Syrian guarantee and financial commitment toward this project.
2. In relation to Article /13/ "Settlement of Disputes", any settlement will be tackled between the Bank and the Borrower (the company).
3. In relation to Article /4/ "Transfer of Fund", the currencies will be converted according to the bulletin exchange rate issued by the Central Bank of Syria.
4. In relation to Article /14/ "Entry into Force", the Syrian Government will have no role in the operation of issuing ratification letter and legal opinion to this project.

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